Authority, loyalty, “purity”… Americans, Canadians and Australians’ adherence to certain moral principles fluctuates throughout the year, following a consistent seasonal pattern.
- In one study, volunteers interviewed adhered more strongly to “constraining” values in spring and fall, but not as strongly in summer and winter.
- The “binding” values in question are loyalty (valuing devotion to one’s group and maintaining ties), authority (respecting and following established rules), and purity (emphasizing cleanliness, holiness, and maintaining traditions).
- “Higher anxiety may lead people to seek comfort in norms and traditions supported by constraining values,” the authors say.
“Moral values guide attitudes and consequent actions.” This is what researchers from the universities of Nottingham (England) and British Columbia (Canada) in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). As part of this work, scientists have discovered regular seasonal changes For the moral values of people.
THE participants adhere more to “binding” values in spring and autumn
To reach this conclusion, they examined the answers ofa survey conductedbetween 2011 and 2020, with more than 232,975 people in the United States. The analysis revealed a consistent seasonal cycle in Americans’ adherence to moral values related to loyalty (vencourage devotion to one’s group and maintain connections)to the authority (rrespect and follow the established rules), and purity (memphasize cleanliness, holiness and maintaining traditions).
“People’s adherence to moral values that promote group cohesion and conformity is stronger in spring and fall than in summer and winter. (…) Similar seasonal cycles were observed in data from Canada and Australia (but not the UK)”said Ian Hohm, co-author of the works. The authors have also note that the summer decline in adherence to binding moral values was more pronounced in regions with more extreme seasonal climate differences. This has not been observed for the aAttention (dprioritize kindness and avoid harming others) and the efairness (hasensure equal treatment for all).
A potential link between LSeasonal mood changes and anxiety levels
According to researchers, cMoral changes can explainsr partly by A seasonal cycle in Americans’ experience of anxiety. “We noticed that anxiety levels peak in the spring and fall, which coincides with times when people adhere more strongly to constraining values.. This correlation suggests that higher anxiety may lead people to seek comfort in norms and traditions supported by constraining values.”said Mark Schaller, lead author of the study.
DIts potential implications for policy, law and health
In the conclusions, the team emphasizes that moral changes have implications for other outcomes that may be influenced by these values, for example, intergroup prejudices, political attitudes, legal judgments or the reaction to a health crisis. She believes that theThe timing of elections could impact outcomes, as changes in moral values influence political opinions and behaviors.. As for the time of trials and legal decisions“they could be influenced by seasonal variations in moral values, as those who adhere to binding values tend to be more punitive towards those who commit crimes and do not respect THE rules.”
During the pandemic of Covid-19, the extent to which the people followed the recommendations social distancing and have been vaccinatedeIt was influenced by their moral values.”Knowing that these values change with the seasons could help design more effective health campaigns.” Finally, Seasonal changes in moral values could affect how people perceive outsiders or those who do not conform to norms societal.
